Edward 'Ed' Knudsen, who served with the U.S. Marine Corps during two combat deployment missions in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, is Rapid City's Veteran of the Month for March.

Edward 'Ed' Knudsen, who served with the U.S. Marine Corps during two combat deployment missions in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, is Rapid City's Veteran of the Month for March.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, nearly 20 million American adults suffer from depression, while 1 in 6 Americans take antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs. However, researchers looked at the effects of Hatha, a type of yoga that concentrates on meditation and breathing, where they concluded that it helped ease symptoms of depression.

Audiences in Rapid City are being offered a similar type of yoga by Sólace instructor and wellness coach, Theresa Parker.

"I created spa yoga to offer many different wellness type of health benefits," Theresa explained.

Spa Yoga is a type of yoga that Parker created after 30 years of experience in the wellness industry. She combined Himalayan salt lamps, essential oils, a heated room, dim lighting and massages.

Kelsey Parker, a co-owner of Sólace, explained that it’s different than the other types of yoga that the studio offers.

"It's very different, especially from a lot of the classes we have here,” Kelsey said. “This is really the mental side of yoga, just focusing on relaxation and being calm and regrouping after a crazy day."

Not only does Theresa pay attention to the room environment, but also the different poses.

"The poses that we put together are very beneficial as far as detoxification,” said Theresa. “For instance, doing inversions is good for the endocrine system - so, as far as balancing out your hormones. All day long, we're releasing cortisol and adrenaline and the fight or flight type of mode - most people are very stressed. And so, something like an inversion that focuses on that, basically helps you to release wellness-types of hormones such as serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin."

To enhance the experience, Himalayan salt lamps are added to boost moods, while massages and essential oils are added for relaxation and detoxification. And Julianna Tinker, a Sólace yogi, seems to be noticing the results.

"I definitely have also seen that I've become more flexible and also - just like, more relaxed and stress free," Tinker said.

Marya Tellinghuisen, another yogi, said that the yoga has not only helped with her knee pain after surgery, but her sleeping schedule as well.

"I have a little trouble sleeping, and so yoga really helps at night … gets rid of the tensions of the day,” Tellinghuisen said.

After just 8 weeks, researchers found that yoga patients reported having fewer symptoms of depression and a higher quality of life compared to those who didn’t participate.

"It's like medicine,” Theresa said. “So whatever poses you do promotes a different benefit to a different system in your body. So, that is the goal of [Solace] - is for people to walk out feeling better than they did when they walked in the door."

For more information on Sólace, click HERE. To view other Wellness Wednesday stories on our website, click here.